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EXMO’s December 2020 Security Incident: What Was Stolen and What Changed

EXMO reported a December 2020 theft from hot wallets holding six cryptocurrencies. Here is what the exchange said was affected, how it responded and what remains unknown.
From TheFinanceBase Team4 min to read

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EXMO reported a hot-wallet theft on 21 December 2020, involving withdrawals of BTC, XRP, ZEC, USDT, ETC and ETH. The exchange said cold-wallet assets were safe and that the incident did not reach its production server or customer transaction information. Its reports put the exposure at roughly 5% to 6% of total assets, depending on the update; they do not establish a definitive dollar loss or a complete recovery total.

What happened in the EXMO security incident?

EXMO said it detected suspicious withdrawals beginning at 02:27:02 UTC on 21 December 2020. Its audit identified funds withdrawn from hot wallets to addresses controlled by attackers. The exchange’s 22 December report described withdrawals between 00:00 and 10:00 UTC that day and named six affected cryptocurrencies: BTC, XRP, ZEC, USDT, ETC and ETH. EXMO’s Security Incident Report

EXMO said the attack targeted cryptocurrency hot-wallet infrastructure. It reported that the production server was not affected and that transaction records and client information remained out of reach. The exchange also said the affected cryptocurrency servers were separate from those systems; six of 57 cryptocurrencies listed in its report were affected. These are EXMO’s own account of the incident, not an independent forensic finding.

How much crypto was stolen from EXMO?

EXMO did not publish a definitive total dollar value in the cited incident reports. Its estimates also differed slightly across updates, so the percentages should not be treated as a precise final loss figure.

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Update EXMO’s reported figure What it describes
21 December 2020 Near 5% of total assets EXMO said the affected hot wallets comprised near 5% of its total assets. EXMO’s 21 December update
22 December 2020 About 6% of company assets EXMO’s intermediate report estimated the compromised amount at about 6% of company assets. EXMO’s Security Incident Report
8 September 2021 About 5% of total assets In its resolution statement, EXMO again described the loss as limited to about 5% of total assets. EXMO’s resolution update

The percentages are the exchange’s estimates at different points in its reporting. They do not provide enough information to calculate a reliable dollar total or to determine how much was ultimately recovered.

Were customer funds affected?

EXMO said cold-wallet assets were safe and promised to cover any affected user funds in full. In its 21 December update, the company stated: “Most importantly, we want to assure you that if any user fund is affected by this incident, it will be covered completely by EXMO.” EXMO’s 21 December update

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That assurance is not the same as a published account of individual reimbursements. The official reports cited here do not state a complete recovery amount or provide a final reconciliation of user balances and repayments.

How did EXMO respond and try to trace the funds?

EXMO’s immediate response focused on stopping further withdrawals and replacing compromised wallet infrastructure. It also warned users not to deposit to existing addresses while the exchange investigated.

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  • Suspended withdrawals: EXMO froze withdrawals after detecting the suspicious activity.
  • Redeployed hot wallets: The company said it replaced the affected hot-wallet setup.
  • Warned against old deposit addresses: Users were told not to send funds to existing addresses during the response.
  • Tracked transfers: EXMO said it traced some XRP and ETH to Poloniex and contacted that exchange.
  • Flagged addresses and reported the incident: The company said it worked with CipherTrace, Chainalysis and Crystal to flag attacker addresses as criminal or high risk, and reported the incident to London police and the National Cybersecurity center.

On 23 December 2020, EXMO told users to generate new wallet addresses before resuming cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals. EXMO’s 23 December follow-up

Did EXMO recover the stolen funds?

The cited official updates do not establish a complete recovery total. EXMO described tracing some transfers and contacting Poloniex, but tracing or flagging funds does not by itself show that they were returned. The reports also do not identify a final perpetrator, so attribution remains unconfirmed in this material.

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What did EXMO change after the incident?

In its 8 September 2021 resolution announcement, EXMO said it had suspended transactions, upgraded wallet infrastructure and partnered with Ledger Vault. The statement presented those measures as part of resolving the incident. EXMO’s resolution update

EXMO’s current security page, accessed in 2026, says 95% of assets are held in cold wallets and 5% in hot wallets. It also describes a Ledger Vault insurance program covering losses up to $150 million. These are the company’s present-day claims, not figures that establish how the 2020 incident was reimbursed or independently verify the effectiveness of the controls. EXMO security information

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Is EXMO safe after the 2020 incident?

The incident is historical, not a report of a new 2026 breach. EXMO said in 2021 that it had resolved the incident and described wallet-infrastructure upgrades and a custody partnership. Those disclosures are relevant, but they cannot by themselves establish the exchange’s current security or guarantee that funds held there are risk-free.

For a personal-finance decision, treat an exchange’s custody percentages, insurance descriptions and incident statements as claims to evaluate, not substitutes for considering the risks of keeping assets with a third party. The 2020 reports establish what EXMO said was affected and how it responded; they do not provide a complete recovery accounting or a conclusive independent security assessment.

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